Elected officials from seven cities and four counties along the Northern Front Range sent a letter to Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday asking for the state government to update what they said were antiquated and arbitrary oil and gas regulations. (Matthew Jonas / Longmont Times-Call)

Letter signatories

City and county of Broomfield: Council members Guyleen Castriotta, Deven Shaff and Sharon Tessier

Elected officials from seven cities and four counties along the Northern Front Range sent a letter to Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday asking for the state government to update what they said were antiquated and arbitrary oil and gas regulations.

The last minute effort to pull the letter together in time for Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday were organized by the Colorado League of Oil and Gas Impacted Coloradans, a lobbying organization that aims to change oil and gas policies in Colorado. A copy of the letter also was provided to commission members at the Tuesday hearing.

Advertisement

In the letter, the elected officials argue that there is increasing oil and gas development occurring around residential areas and that the industry is attempting to create "border wars" between neighboring municipalities.

"Oil and gas operator proposals continuously attempt or successfully move well pads out of one jurisdiction into another," the letter states. "We are writing to inform you that we will continue to stand united against these border wars and will not be swayed by this divisive approach."

The letter continues to lobby for updated oil and gas regulations that account for multi-well pad sites and increasing the setback rules for homes, schools and water sources. Besides the governor, the letter was also sent to the heads of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, the Colorado Energy Office and the state oil and gas commission itself.

"The current (commission) rules are antiquated, arbitrary and address the regulations that were literally set up decades, if not a half a century, ago," the letter finishes.

Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones said that locally elected officials are seeing oil and gas companies try to pit jurisdictions against each other when siting a well pad and the letter represents a united front.

"It creates this dynamic where the oil and gas operator — instead of taking responsibility for their siting, they're trying to get one jurisdiction to lobby another jurisdiction. It's 'You take it. No, you take it,'" Jones said. "We are saying that large oil and gas facilities do not belong in residential communities or near schools, even if you move across a jurisdictional boundary, the impacts are still felt over that line. The state needs to recognize that it's a problem and that it needs to be addressed."

Castriotta also said that the current commission rules were put in place when Colorado was more rural and oil and gas technology was more rudimentary.

"Technology has changed so much and the regulations haven't. You can have a 40-well mega pad with multiple wells and horizontal drilling, which means increased impacts to a community," she said. "We want more control back. As elected officials, we govern our land using our zoning and we don't understand why it doesn't apply to this industry."

Todd Hartman, Department of Natural Resources spokesman, responded to a request for comment from the Times-Call by pushing back on the notion that the rules have remained static.

"Colorado has worked intensely, for more than a decade, to strengthen its oil and gas regulations and recently announced yet another initiative to address orphan wells and strengthen financial assurance. These myriad regulatory changes have also included development of a greater role for local governments in siting larger operations," Hartman wrote in an email, linking to a summation of changes to COGCC policy from 2007 to 2017.

Hartman also said that Colorado jurisdictions are free to work with each other about well pad siting.

"The (commission's) rules consider and protect all citizens, regardless of the local government jurisdiction in which they reside. We'll continue to listen to and consider concerns and welcome constructive input," Hartman wrote.

Jones said that it's important to keep pressure on state officials to let them know that constituents along the Northern Front Range are not happy with the current rules.

"It's critical that cities, counties and concerned citizens continue to find their voices and make their voices be heard on this issue," Jones said. "We're under no illusion that the problem will be solved overnight, but it's important that we continue to let the (commission) and the governor know that the status quo is not acceptable and is not working."

Castriotta said that locally elected officials have a responsibility to advocate for their residents in every avenue possible, even writing the governor.

"I don't know if the governor is going to respond. We're hoping he does. We're trying everything we can think of," she said. "We're pushing back and saying that (oil and gas developers) are getting too close. Our responsibility is to protect our community first and foremost and the fact that any private company would be able to supercede that goes against everything that local government stands for."

Longmont Mayor Brian Bagley said that he was asked to sign the letter and did because he agreed with everything in it, but was skeptical that the letter represented the necessary political pressure to get the commission to change its rules to favor local government.

"That is the truth of the matter. It's just a consolidated expression of opinion to the governor and the (commission) and I would hope it's taken seriously but in my experience, such letters typically do not result in the necessary and needed change," Bagley said.

Bagley was on Hickenlooper's 2012 task force that aimed to find a compromise between local governments, oil and gas developers and the commission. Bagley quickly became disillusioned with that task force and called it "a joke" at a panel discussion after the task force's first meeting.

Senior, Cougars coming off runners-up finishes last seasonNIWOT — In terms of overall numbers, this year's Niwot gymnastics team will be smaller than usual, but that hasn't stopped the Cougars from setting their sights as high as possible. Full Story

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story